PENNIES

           “That clock, and that teacup, and that box of old baseball cards, we can’t put these up for sale.”

            Faye gave him a curious look. “Why not?”

            “Is it because they're old?” Monica inquired.

He nodded. “It appears that a lot of these things might be antiques. I bet we'd probably get a better market price for them if we took them to an antique dealer.” He looked at Monica. “What do you think?”

            “I think it’s worth a try. Do you know of a reputable dealer?” Monica asked.

            “Vollmering. Otto Vollmering,” Ralph grinned. “He runs a shop called Time Gone By, over on Tanner.”

            “I've never been there, but I know of the place,” Monica acknowledged. “It shouldn't take us long to reach it.”

            Ralph pulled out his cell phone. “Let me call him first to see if he's open before we head over there.”

            Faye pointed to several other items. “You might want to take a load with you. There’s a few more things that might be of value.”

            “Great! I’ll help you box them up.” Monica glanced around her. “Is there an empty box somewhere?”

            “Should be one in the kitchen,” Faye told her.

            Nodding, Monica went to fetch an empty container. She was passing through the foyer, when the front door opened, and a man stepped inside the shelter. She was momentarily stunned by his appearance—the bright red corduroy overalls, the green suspenders, and the white Henley with the long sleeves rolled up to his elbows. But what caught her attention the most was the head of snowy hair, and the full, flowing beard and mustache that were so white, they blended into the color of his shirt.  

ELF NUTS

            Later, because the weather was tolerable, Mrs. Ferris took them outside to try and expend some of that extra energy. While they were running around the playground, Ginger found an acorn at the base of one of the trees, and took it to her teacher.

            “Do you know what this is?” her teacher asked, smiling. “It’s an elf nut.”

            “A what?”

            Several children gathered around, intrigued.

            “Actually, it’s an acorn. Elves love acorns. They cook them up into all sorts of delicious meals, like acorn soup, and acorn pies, and acorn bread.”

            “No way!” Brayden had scoffed. He scoffed at everything.

            Mrs. Ferris didn’t mind his rudeness. Instead, she instructed them to find as many acorns as they could. “We’ll take them inside and leave them by the vents for the elves to find. That way they won’t have to go out into the cold to search for them.”

            “What do they taste like?” Ginger had asked.

            “Oh, we humans can’t eat these,” their teacher quickly warned. “They’d make us sick if we did. But to elves, they’re like pecans or walnuts.”

            Every student went on the hunt for any late acorns. All total, they found five more, which Mrs. Ferris said was plenty. “I know the elves will be grateful for your help,” she praised them.

            The acorns were placed in a small dish and left by the heating vent. When they returned later, after lunch, someone noticed two of the acorns were missing. And when they got back from the library, one more had disappeared. Of course, the following morning, when they reported to their classroom, the dish was empty. More amazing, there was a tiny wrapped gift lying on every child’s seat. Each one contained a plastic ring with either a Santa, Rudolph, or a snowman on it. Ginger remembered how excited she’d been with her Rudolph one.

TALLY MARKS

            Conversation died. The room grew quiet. Now that she was relatively warm, safe, and comfortable, Trinka found herself slowly sinking into sleep. A tapping at the window suddenly jerked her awake, and she almost went into a crouch when she realized what was making the sound.

            “It’s starting to snow,” Danby muttered. “You naysayers owe me.”

            Filipe let out a bark of laughter. “Bite me.”

            Trinka noticed Ray appeared to be studying Arkie. The man had his knees drawn up, and his arms and face buried against them as he gently rocked himself forward and back. Ray caught her watching him.

            “He don’t say much, does he?”

            “We don’t know what he suffered before we found him. But whatever it was, it’s scarred him for life.”

            “He was injured and starving,” Danby volunteered. “He’s harmless. Every now and then he’ll say something that’ll surprise us. Otherwise, he’s just another victim of the devastation we’ve all endured.”

            “We didn’t have the heart to leave him where we found him,” Trinka added.

            “Is it really as bad out there as we think it is?” Alma softly asked.

            Filipe gave a nod. “In some places, yeah.”

            “But we’ll come back. Humanity will make a comeback,” Trinka predicted, hoping she sounded more positive than she felt. “It’ll take us a while. Maybe decades. We just gotta have faith.”